My Body, Your Soul Revised
by agent000
Summary: A girl puts on a costume of Edward Elric, and gets way more than she bargained for. Plot based on an urban legend. A rewrite of my most classic piece of fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

_**Welcome! This is one of my oldest and best stories, though when I first wrote it, I wasn't a very good writer, hehe, so, I'm rewriting it now so that it's better written. To those of you who are returning readers, welcome back! To those that have stumbled upon this story for the first time, I hope you enjoy it. You can either wait for updates ((which I recommend)) or you can read the old version to find out what happens, though it's not nearly as well written. Either way, it's your choice. Hope that you all enjoy, regardless!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. Heck, I only half-own this story as it is, even if you factor out the FMA-ness of it. Heh, do you returning readers remember me saying that the plot of this story was written by a ghost friend of mine? It's true, hehe. **_

"Katieeeee..." My dad's singsongy voice jerked my attention away from the mirror, and I sat up straight, turning my head to look at the door. The approaching footsteps up the rickety wooden stairs alerted me to the fact that he was coming up to my room to check on me. The knob on my door turned, and the door swung open, allowing my dad to poke his head in intrusively. "Are you done yet? Your friends have been waiting down here for the last half hour."

I flashed my dad a smile as I finished the last few brush strokes on my hair and then set the brush down on the vanity table before me."I'll be there in a minute," I replied. I turned away from him and once again looked into the mirror to make sure that my hair was perfect. Satisfied, I reached for my ponytail holder and pulled my hair through it. I needed to keep my hair up tonight, so that it wouldn't be seen. I had brown hair, as opposed to the blond I needed. Grabbing my hair net, I then proceeded to push all my hair up underneath it, so that not one single strand was hanging loose. I looked in the mirror one more time to check. Good, my hair was perfect.

I leaned back into my chair, exhaled, and then in a rocking motion, moved forward and stood up. Now to don the rest of my costume. My friends and I were going out trick or treating tonight, as this was Halloween night, and I had plans of going as Edward Elric. My friends couldn't understand why I was being such a fussbudget about having everything perfect in the costume, since I was only going to wear it for one night...but for some reason, I just had to. Even I didn't understand it, but I was going to follow the impulse and have my costume be as exact as possible. I hadn't gone thrift shopping for the right pieces of the costume for the past few weeks for nothing.

I grabbed the black, white-trimmed jacket and slipped it over my shirt, being careful not to mess up my hair net in the process. I couldn't put on the costume until after I'd brushed my hair after all, because...well...ahem...when I'm wearing black clothes while brushing my hair, you can see dandruff flakes all over the clothes. It's kind of embarrassing...but all the same, it's what I have to deal with. At least it's not that big of a deal. There were worse things to worry about.

After fastening the clip to hold the jacket in place, I pushed my right sleeve up. I had managed to find a bunch of pieces of metal that looked an awful lot like auto-mail when they were assembled right, so I was going to wear the makeshift auto-mail to make my costume more authentic, but I had to put it on after putting on my jacket, because it liked to come apart whenever I slipped my jacket sleeve over it in my past attempts. This was the only way to get it to work, even though it was kind of awkward.

Once I got the auto-mail on, I carefully pulled my sleeve down over it, and patted my pants pocket to make sure that the silver watch was still in there where I'd left it. One couldn't be too careful. I then turned and walked over to the full length mirror positioned on the back of my door and struck a few poses in front of it like I was some big super model. The thought made me smile, actually, considering that there probably weren't many super models dressed as Edward Elric out there. I nodded unconsciously at myself in the mirror. Yes, so far, the costume looked good.

I walked back to my vanity, picking up the blond wig I was to wear on the way there. Sitting down in the vanity chair, I leaned forward a bit so that I could see into the mirror, and positioned the wig so that it covered all my hair. I didn't want even one strand of my hair showing...that would ruin the effect. The bangs on this wig were particularly long for being bangs, which made it a really good wig to wear for an Edward Elric cosplay, but it was a bit annoying how they kept getting into my eyes. I had to keep blowing the bangs out of my eyes. I shook my head and chuckled a bit. Oh well, it would only be one night. I wouldn't have to live with this, after all.

Another impatient call coming up the stairs brought me back to reality. I jumped up from my chair, making a bit of a ruckus with the chair scraping across the floor, and shouted, "I'm coming, I'm coming! Just a minute!" I went back over to my bed, and grabbed the white gloves that were lying there, and quickly pulled them over my hands, though it was a bit tricky getting it over my auto-mail covered hand. I'd never really been good at that, but I managed.

I took a deep breath, and let it all out in a sigh. Finally, only one piece of the costume was left to apply: the red coat. That wouldn't take long. Getting impatient from the constant calls of my friends and family up the stairs, I grabbed the coat and roughly thrust my hands into the arms.

All too suddenly, my hands went up to my head as I tried to stave off a dizzy spell that had just appeared out of nowhere. I wobbled a little bit in the place I stood, and decided that it would be easier if I were to sit down, so I sat on the edge of my bed to wait for the feeling to pass. I really didn't think too much about the fact that I had had yet another dizzy spell. Heck, I had dizzy spells all the time, so many that I could even tell one form of dizziness from another, so I always knew if the dizziness came from hunger or fatigue or lack of blood flow. This particular instance didn't feel quite the same as most of them did, but I still didn't think much of it.

As soon as the feeling had come, it left, so I carefully stood up so as not to trigger another one, and made my way down the stairs, only to find myself looking into the faces of two very annoyed friends.

"We've been waiting for you," said Tammie, crossing her arms and giving me one of her death glares that I knew would've even scared Edward Elric if he had actually been real.

"Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry," I said, dropping my gaze to the floor. I hated it when I made my friends upset at me.

Tammie just sighed and shrugged at me in a sort of annoyed manner, and then gave me another glare that quite clearly said, "Don't let it happen again." I gulped and nodded at the unspoken statement. I caught the message, quite clearly.

"Well, we'd better get going then," said Sheila, trying to break the tension between us. She needn't have worried so much, since Tammie wouldn't have clobbered me or anything...well...maybe she would've if she was mad enough, but she didn't normally get that mad at me. Regardless, I agreed that we had better get going while the night was still young. Tammie and I fell into step behind Sheila and we headed out the door.

My friends and I made our way up to the first house, and I knocked on the door, using my left hand, of course, since I didn't want to damage the door with my auto-mail, gloved or not. The door swung open and the smiling face of our neighbor greeted us. As he looked out at the spectacle we were presenting...Tammie dressed as a fairy, Sheila as that elf woman from Lord of the Rings, and myself as Edward Elric, I noticed that he couldn't help himself and started to chuckle. Turning around and calling to someone back in the house, he said, "Hey, Muriel, come here, it's that FullMetal shrimp!"

On an impulse, I suddenly snapped and shouted, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT YOU CAN'T TIP THEM OVER LIKE A COW BECAUSE THEY'RE SO CLOSE TO THE GROUND THAT THEY WON'T TIP?" Everyone stopped dead in their tracks for several long seconds, and then took up laughing their heads off. I was a little confused at first, but slowly began offering my nervous chuckles as well. Normally, I was no good at Ed rants, but that one had come so easily. It must've been due to the fact that I was dressed like Ed. It made me feel more in touch with the character.

The man gave us each our share of candy, or rather, more than the average share of candy, since he had been so impressed with my performance, and then we turned and made our way to the next house. Sheila turned to me with a combination of a smirk and a confused expression on her face and said, "So, how did you do that?" What kind of answer could I give to that? I gave her the only one I knew, a shrug. She rolled her eyes at me, and we continued on to the next house.

By and by, we approached the last house on the street. I pulled my watch out of my pocket and flipped the cover open to check the time. Heck, it was a real watch, not just one of those simple watches that were meant for looks only. This one looked expensive and intricate. "Okay, guys," I said, breaking the giggle-fest that Sheila and Tammie had gotten themselves into, "If we hurry, we might have time for one more street before everyone starts turning their lights out.

Tammie turned and rolled her eyes at me. "If SOMEONE hadn't been so obsessed with looking absolutely spotless, then we might've had time to cover more streets and not have to hurry."

I clenched my fist for a moment before releasing it. While it wasn't fair of Tammie to keep bringing that up, it was true that I had kept them waiting initially for some time, and frankly, that hadn't been fair either. I didn't want to say anything, since I feared I'd say something I'd regret, so I simply looked down at the ground and found an innocent pebble I could take my frustration out on. Taking full advantage of this, I drew my foot back and kicked it with all my might. My little act of revenge on a helpless pebble seemed to have gone unnoticed, however.

"Tammie, don't roll your eyes at Katie, that's not nice," I heard Sheila say, "Besides, the Blue Fairy wouldn't roll her eyes at anyone, she's a nice lady." I snapped my head back up to watch the charade play out before me, as these two could get quite amusing once they got going, as long as they didn't drag me into it.

Tammie then rolled her eyes again, and responded by saying, "First, I'm not the Blue Fairy, I'm just a generic fairy, get it right. Second, even if I WAS the Blue Fairy, I have brown eyes, so the eyes would just behave however they wanted while the rest of me was being kind and sweet."

Sheila looked back and forth between us, wearing a confused look on her face, as if trying to get me to help her to understand Tammie. I shrugged at her. No, I didn't understand her either. I never claimed that she made sense. Heck, she rarely did. Sheila turned back to Tammie, and surprised us by getting a bolder tone in her voice than she normally takes. "Well...that's just stupid. My green eyes don't make me act more elven!"

Tammie blinked a couple times in response to Sheila's attempt to drive sense into her, but quickly shrugged it off, as if considering that it wasn't really important, though I saw otherwise on her face. If there was one thing Tammie enjoyed most, it was causing mischief. "Sure they do," she replied, "Just like Katie's golden eyes make her act more like Ed. She even demonstrated it earlier."

At this, I had to laugh. "No, no, my eyes aren't golden, you goofball. My dad didn't let me wear those contacts. Didn't you notice?" I remembered his speech full well, especially the part about him saying that he wasn't going to let an eleven year old girl wear contacts while she was under his care. Upon asking him why, he explained in detail about the damage to one's eyes, especially the corneas, that contact lenses could cause, and since I wasn't used to them, they would be really irritating to me, and I'd be needing to take them out before the night was over. While I wasn't overly pleased, I still respected him for the decision, even if it meant compromising one thing about my costume. I understood his motivations for laying down the law on the contacts. I only hoped that going as Edward Elric with blue-gray eyes was passable.

Tammie flipped her black hair over her shoulder in a scoffing gesture. "Ha ha, very funny."

Now, wait a minute...what? Did I just miss something? "What are you talking about, Tammie?"

Tammie rolled her eyes again, as she seemed to love doing that and making me look like a complete idiot, turned towards me, and said, "It's obvious that you're wearing those contacts because your eyes are indeed golden, and I highly doubt that that's your natural color."

I felt my heart skip a beat, though I couldn't place why, since I knew that Tammie was always playing jokes like that, but I still wanted to know what she was getting at. Tammie started walking on ahead of us, so I ran to catch up with her, and grabbed her arm to make her stop and look at me. She tried to pull herself out of my grip, obviously in annoyance, but I had the upper hand today, what with my having an auto-mail arm, so she couldn't get away. "Sorry, no go, Tammie...not until you explain to me what you're talking about."

She turned to face me with an irritated look on her face, her brown eyes concealing flames from within, I could've sworn. "Look, Katie, I've been putting up with a lot from you tonight. First you fuss about your costume, then you make us late, then you try and make us hurry up, then you slow us down with these little annoyances of yours, and now you're trying to mess with my mind by telling me that you're not wearing contacts when you obviously are. Kate, I've had enough. I'm going home."

Tammie tried to leave, but I gripped her arm even tighter, begging her not to leave, and to give me another chance. I honestly didn't know why I'd been causing so much trouble all day, but the last thing I wanted to do was annoy my friends to death when we should've been having an enjoyable time together. She turned and glared at me, telling me to let her go, and muttering something about my being too proud or too much of a fangirl to admit that I was wearing gold colored contact lenses.

I finally released her. I wasn't going to get her to change her mind or make any sense to me, that was for sure, so I turned to the next best person to query, Sheila. Apparently, just one look at her told her what I was asking, so she reached down into her robe and pulled out the little purse she always had on her person, even at times like this, and pulled out a cosmetic mirror. "Katie," she said, handing the mirror to me, "See for yourself."

I gingerly took the little mirror and slowly raised it to my face. My hands were shaking a bit, because if I were to go by the way that Tammie was acting, there seriously might be something bizarre to see...and Sheila was acting a bit strange too. She never played the games that Tammie did, so that scared me a bit. I angled the mirror down so that enough light hit it so I could see my reflection in it, and looked at my eyes.

What I saw petrified me. I wasn't even able to retain the grip I held on the mirror, and it slid from my hand and clattered to the ground, spinning in place until it finally came to a rest on its backside. Thankfully, it had been framed in plastic, so it didn't break. I didn't personally believe in that superstition about broken mirrors causing bad luck...but, well...better safe than sorry.

I started visibly shaking, and began moving my lips to try and form words to utter the confusion I was feeling right then. It was hard going, but I finally managed to say, "Wh-why are my eyes golden? There's just no possible way-"

Right about then, I felt a strange warmth fill my body. It was simultaneously comforting and terrifying, as I couldn't quite place it. With the wind blowing on us, I had no reason to be feeling warm right now, and I sure as heck wasn't old enough to drink alcohol, so it wouldn't have come from that either. Heck, it wasn't even from sugar overdose, since I hadn't eaten any of my Halloween candy yet.

My hands started twitching uncontrollably. I wasn't sure if it was from the cold outside of my body in spite of the warmth inside it, but I didn't like it, because I couldn't seem to stop it. I threw my arms around my own body in a self hug to try and regain a little control of myself, as I didn't have a clue what was going on. Even Tammie and Sheila had finally noticed that something was up, and were sending concerned questions my way. They were familiar with my tendency to get dizzy spells, but this was no dizzy spell.

Tammie, nervous that the wig I was wearing might be getting too hot for me and causing me to get light-headed, walked up to me and grabbed ahold of the braid, giving it a sharp tug without warning. My head jerked back and I yelped in pain...the kind of pain that one gets if one's own hair is pulled...but wait...that didn't make any sense...that was not MY hair that she'd pulled!

Tammie then backed off a couple steps, and gave me the most perplexed stare I ever saw come from that girl. Somehow, that look scared me. I didn't like her looking at me like that. She didn't get concerned over just anything. Suddenly, without warning, my feet suddenly started moving on their own, and took off running in the direction that they were pointed, which just happened to be the stone brick wall of the nearest house. In no time, I had hit the wall, and had fallen to a sitting position where I was clutching my nose, since that had taken the most abuse from the impact. I seemed to be hearing someone saying that they were sorry, but I brushed it off, seeing that the thought made no sense.

In no time, my friends had caught up with me, and where helping me up. Tammie threw a hug around me and apologized for having yelled at me earlier, and proceeded to ask why I had run away from her like that. Short of an epileptic fit, which I never had had such a thing before, I couldn't think of any reason I had run away. I had simply lost control, while I felt fear...a foreign fear, take over my body. It was...well, to put it lightly, weird.

I honestly wasn't sure how my friends would take that particular description of this most recent occurrence, but I was not the kind of person to keep many secrets from my best friends, even the most bizarre ones, so I told them anyway. My friends' reactions were amusing, to say the least. Tammie got all bug-eyed, and Sheila had her hands to her mouth, as though in a prolonged gasp. Finally, Sheila removed her hands from her mouth, and spoke. "It-it's just like in those ghost stories I've been reading." She swallowed, and then started again. "You've been possessed...by a ghost...haven't you?"

Now it was my turn to get all bug-eyed and enter into a prolonged gasp. I honestly didn't know what to say, and the thought of possession hadn't even entered my mind. How was that even possible? After all...if I had been possessed, wouldn't I have been terrorizing my friends by now by doing the crazy things possessed people did? I was still shaking, especially since I had this new possibility to ponder, and I nervously shook my head. I didn't want the statement to be true.

Tammie stepped a couple steps closer to me, and looked me in the eye. "I think she's right. That would explain all your bizarre behaviors as of late." I continued to shake my head. I didn't want it to be true. The thought was too terrifying for me. Tammie placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and calmly said, "Let me speak to the other being inside you." I screamed and tried to run away, because I didn't want to lose control of my own body again, but Tammie's hand reached out and grabbed my own, just as I had done to her just a moment before. "It's the only way, Kate. We have to know who this is and why they're possessing you...otherwise, we won't be able to find a way to help you."

I was still shaking quite a bit, but I slowly nodded my understanding of Tammie's statement. Tammie must've noticed the overwhelming fear emanating from me, for she had reached forward and grabbed both of my shoulders, giving me a gentle squeeze, as if trying to tell me it would all be alright. It was so good to see how my friends were sticking by me, even in this bizarre and scary situation. I had honestly never known they cared so much. With that, I relaxed my body, and released myself.

The next thing I knew, my body had gotten that warm sensation over it again, and I once again began moving without any sort of control on my part. I was starting to believe Sheila's assessment...maybe I was possessed.

My eyes flicked up towards Tammie, and a wave of nervousness passed through me, another foreign sensation. My lips parted as if to speak, and I coughed a couple times in the attempt. Finally, the words, "I'm sorry," managed to come out.

Tammie gripped me even tighter, concern evident in her eyes, and said, "For what?"

I shivered again, involuntarily, and once again met her gaze. "I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I'm sorry that I possessed Katie...I just didn't know what else to do. I swear that I won't hurt her."

"Why do you possess her?" said Tammie, sending one of her deadly glares that no one could lie to her face and live through.

"It-It's a long story," said the being inside of me, the one who was speaking through my own body at present, "To make a long story short, I was bound to my clothes when I died, a long time ago, and I wasn't able to move on because of that. Then Katie came and reassembled them on her person, so I transferred my essence into her body, in order to get free. Now, once I can find a way to get out of her body without hurting her in the process, I can move on."

Even though I wasn't in control of my own body at the moment, I felt a twinge of sadness pass through me, and I began feeling sorry for the person inside of me. Whoever it was, they must've been pretty desperate to have done this. Because this being was still looking at Tammie, I was able to see the same feeling going through her eyes, a feeling of pity.

Tammie struggled for her words, but finally managed to say, "So...if you died a long time ago...why were you dressed like Edward Elric?"

I felt a surprised jolt run through me, once again, a foreign emotion, and I looked up at Tammie with a start. "How do you know my name?"

"Your name," Tammie paused and licked her lips to regain her composure, "Is Edward Elric? How is that possible? Edward Elric doesn't even exist!"

Suddenly I wrenched my shoulders free of Tammie's grasp, and sent back another version of the deadly glare that Tammie was usually so good at. "I do TOO exist! Whatever made you think I didn't?" I stood there, still, for a moment, before I finally collapsed to my knees, and resumed the shaking I had done before this whole issue of losing control over my own body had started.

Tammie and Sheila knelt down next to me and each took one of my hands in theirs, as if to let me know that they were still there for me, regardless of what was happening inside me. Sheila then looked into my eyes, and said, "Katie...do we have you back?" A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye, and I slowly nodded my head.

I sat in silence for a few moments, not saying anything to anyone, and simply looking down at the ground, and at my friends' and my clasped hands. Finally, I raised my head, and looked into their eyes. "He really is Edward Elric. I can feel it. It seems I can pick up some of his thoughts since he's in my body...and...and..." My voice trailed off, and I had to pause a moment to regain my composure once again. "...He's thinking a lot about the painful experiences he went through...and it's not quite the way that you see it in the anime...he has these strong emotions attached, so there's no doubt..." My voice trailed off again, since I didn't know what else to say.

Apparently, I didn't need to though, because I felt my friends' free hands being placed on my shoulders, and Tammie's words of "I believe you, Kate. If you say he's Edward Elric, then he probably is. I just...don't want anything to happen to you."

I smiled and awkwardly started to stand up, albeit with a little help from my friends, since this whole experience had caused a little dizziness to surface, but it wasn't a big deal. "He said that he wasn't going to hurt me in any way. I think that we can trust Edward." Tammie and Sheila didn't really respond audibly, but they were nodding, like they were trying to agree. That was good enough in my opinion, so I decided to continue. "He's letting me have control of my own body, after all...so...why don't we go and try to tackle the next street?" I once again looked at my pocket watch, "Yep, there's still enough time if we hurry."

Tammie rolled her eyes once more at me and said, "Again with the hurrying." However, I could tell that she was slightly amused at my sudden return to my normal character after that whole experience. I smiled and chuckled back at her in response.

"So, let's continue on our candy quest, shall we?" I said as I ran up to Tammie and slapped her on the shoulder with my auto-mail arm. She uttered a small cry of pain and began whining at me for doing that. I simply replied by sticking my tongue out at her and running off ahead of her, shouting something about her not being able to catch me. That got her riled, so she chased me as I ran around the corner to the next block.

Slowly, we all became somewhat used to the additional member of our party, even though none of us could see him, since he was sharing a body with me. We were even able to make Edward open up and talk a little bit with us during the whole excursion, so that we could get to know him a bit better.

Sometime during that night, Sheila mentioned that her parents were always saying to be careful what you wished for, because it just might come true. She had never understood what they had been getting at until that night. Tammie and I could definitely relate. I had always wished that Edward Elric actually existed and that I could meet him personally. Not only did I get my wish to MEET Edward Elric, but I had become Edward Elric.

_**I hope you all enjoyed this new version of "My Body, Your Soul". Please leave feedback, let me know how I'm doing with the rewrite, and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, heh. Heck, it's a lot to type, hehe, so a few reviews for my efforts would be just lovely, hehe. Anyway, take care, and hope to see you back next chapter!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Phew! This took DAYS to write up this chapter! Hehe...never had so many words in one chapter...EVER! Heh...oh well, I hope that you enjoy this nice, looooooong chapter!_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Um...I only have five minutes left on this computer at the library...so um...I don't have time to come up with anything witty. Oops, now it's four minutes! Heh._**

"Thanks, guys, I had a great time." I waved goodbye to Tammie and Sheila as I was returned to my front porch. They returned the wave, turned and then left. I sighed. That had been fun, though it had been a very trying experience. After all, it wasn't every day that one got possessed by the person they idolized, and even further, had to learn how to share your body with them, because they couldn't leave for the time being.

I put my hand on the doorknob to enter my own house, but then I stopped and just stood where I was. How could I just waltz right into the house in this state? What was I supposed to say, "Hey, everyone, guess what happened to me? I got possessed by none other than Edward Elric!" I shook my head. If I tried to explain this to them, they'd either think I was a very obsessed FMA otaku, or that I was downright looney, and in need of mental help. If I had to deal with either option, I preferred the first one, though I had to admit that that one wasn't exactly favorable either.

(Don't worry so much, Katie.) I jumped. I hadn't expected that. I had heard Edward's voice, but he hadn't spoken through my lips. It had come directly through my mind. I supposed that that made sense, since he was inside me, but it still startled me a bit. Come to think of it though, he had communicated this way a bit during the course of the night, I just hadn't paid much attention...mostly because I had been too scared at the time to notice.

I calmed down and opened my mouth to tell Edward exactly WHY I should be worrying right now, but he responded before I even got the chance to utter a single syllable. (They expect you to come home looking like this, so you should be fine. Just don't let them see your eyes. That's the only part of you that isn't the way it was when you left.) I nodded in response. He was right, I couldn't deny that. My parents WERE expecting me to come home dressed like this. If I didn't come back in my costume, they'd most likely end up thinking that something was wrong, because it wouldn't be like me to not want to keep it on as long as possible. With that, I opened the door and headed into the house.

I entered the living room as quickly and as quietly as I could, and looked around. I had to find a way to keep my eyes hidden from sight for the time being. My parents were early sleepers most of the time, but they stayed up late on Halloween night to make sure that I got home safely, and I couldn't take the chance of letting them catch me with gold-colored eyes when I hadn't left with gold-colored eyes. Well, maybe I had. I'm not quite sure when the transformation had taken place. It could have been back when I had put this jacket on, for all I knew. That was when I'd first felt the dizziness, at least.

I spotted a pair of sunglasses resting on the coffee table, so I hurriedly put them on, just as my dad walked into the room. Phew, that was a close call! Now if I could just somehow get by without them questioning me too hard about why I was wearing sunglasses at the moment, I'd be alright.

My dad looked at me, walking around dressed like Edward Elric in sunglasses, and chuckled while shaking his head. He was pretty easy to amuse in general, a very good trait in him that I'd always appreciated. "Well, sweetie," he said, "Did you have a good time?" He walked up to me and caressed my cheek, smiling lovingly down at me. Part of me wanted to relax and enjoy this gesture, but the other part of me tensed up a bit, hoping that he wouldn't notice the eye color. Just act natural, I told myself, and then everything will be alright.

"Oh yes, I had an extremely good time," I replied. That was definitely the truth, even in spite of the fright I'd experienced when I'd first learned that I'd been possessed. Edward was pretty fun to have around, actually, once you got used to his constant presence inside of your body. Well, to be honest, I still wasn't used to it, but he was still pretty fun to have around. He had cracked a lot of stupid jokes all night, and had even gotten me to do some things I never would have done otherwise, considering that I had my pride. I'd always thought that he had more pride than that, but I guess that our view of what "pride" is differs.

My Dad started to chuckle. It seems he's pretty easily amused by the things I do, for some reason. It's nice that he's like that though. He leaned forward just the slightest and tapped his finger on the edge of my sunglasses. "What are you wearing those sunglasses for?" he said in an amused tone of voice, "They don't make you look anything like Ed."

"Uh...Well..." I began to search my mind frantically for an answer. I had to come up with an explanation fast, or he'd start to get concerned and wonder what was the matter with me, and I couldn't have that. Suddenly, I got a mental image in my head, and I relaxed a bit. "He did wear a pair of sunglasses once," I said, "When he was in disguise." Phew! That was a close call! It kind of made me wonder if Ed had saved my skin there by reminding me of that incident.

"Really? I didn't know that," said my dad, still manifesting the ever-present tone of lightness and warmth in his voice. He smiled sweetly at me, and then began to lean towards me, as he planted a kiss on my forehead. "But it's time for you to get out of your disguise and go to bed." He stood back up again, still smiling, and gently ruffled my hair. "Good night, angel."

"Good night, Daddy," I said as I threw my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. He smelled of the spicy brand of cologne that he always wore, though the scent was wearing off a bit, since it was toward the end of the day. I then let him go and turned to my mother. I stood on my tiptoes to reach her, and she leaned down a bit so that I was able to kiss her cheek. "Good night, Mother."

She smiled. She reached out and ruffled my hair as Dad had done as I came back to standing firmly on the soles of my feet, and said, "Good night, sweetheart. Off to bed now."

I began to climb the stairs to my bedroom, thoughts racing through my head, and myself still a little bit shaky from the whole experience. I had managed to get through that confrontation undetected. That was a good thing, I'd hoped. This whole ordeal was still pretty scary though, and I just hated having to keep this from my parents. I was simply unsure of their reaction to this situation, so I couldn't bring myself to tell them about it yet, because I was sure that they would either freak or think I was crazy. Neither reaction was acceptable by my standards.

(You did well, I'm impressed,) Edward thought back in response to my thoughts, which it impressed me that he was able to pick up my thoughts so easily, even when not directed at him. That thought kind of made me shiver though. Now my idol was going to know everything about me, and that was kind of creepy. I then felt him squirm inside of me for some reason, so I sent a probe asking him what was the matter. He hesitated to say anything immediately, as I was quickly discovering was the norm for Ed, but he finally opened up and said, (Do you you kiss your parents every night?)

I stopped climbing the stairs and just stared ahead of me for several seconds, not quite sure how I should answer that. Of course I kissed my parents every night, why wouldn't I? I loved them dearly, and that just so happened to be the way I showed it. My family wasn't afraid of physical contact at all. I suppose that that's a really fortunate thing to have in a family these days. Poor Ed was probably not used to it in the least.

(It'll just take me awhile to get used to it, I guess.) I then felt Edward slump down inside my body. I sort of got the impression that he was a bit saddened by something, so I decided to probe him like he had done recently with me to figure out my thoughts. Sure enough, he was thinking about his mother. The poor guy, no wonder he was so sad! I placed my hand over my chest, as if that would help comfort him, and continued to ascend the stairs again, silently muttering words of comfort.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I entered the first door to the left, which happened to be my room. I wasted no time in removing my coat and my jacket, or rather, Ed's, and throwing them over the back of my vanity's chair. I'd hang them up properly later. I then took the fastener out of my...Ed's hair and gave my head a good shake to let it all fall out. Satisfied, I began to remove the rest of my clothes, only to be stopped by Ed in the process.

(Wait, you can't just get undressed in front of me!)

I rolled my eyes and zipped my pants back up, and then went and sat on the edge of the bed. This boy was going to need a good talking to. (Edward,) I thought back in response, (I can't keep these clothes on my body forever. I have to change them every so often. By possessing me, I thought that you realized that you'd have to participate in every one of my daily activities until you can figure out how to get out of my body.) I paused for a moment to register my thoughts, and to let all that sink in, and then I continued once again with my speech. (And further, the human soul is asexual. It is neither male nor female, and it is the body they inhabit that determines what they are. By that stance, that would technically make you a girl right now.)

I felt Edward jump back in shock at my statement. He took a moment to try and piece his thoughts together, since they were quite incoherent right then, but he finally managed to say, (What? No, I AM NOT A GIRL!!!)

I laughed audibly at his antics and shook my head. Good ol' Edward, still trying to hold onto whatever masculinity he had left. I honestly didn't see what the big deal was. Being a girl wasn't THAT bad...but then, we were talking about Edward here. This was the guy that got outraged every time anyone poked fun at his height because being called short was an insult to his overall masculinity...or something like that. I don't know, it's kind of hard to understand Edward at times...even when he's inside one's body.

I finally was able to take off my clothes and replace them with a nightgown without any complaint from Edward, though I could tell he felt quite awkward about the whole situation. Heck, I couldn't really blame him. I tried to imagine myself in his situation, but it wasn't easy to picture. I figured that I'd probably be feeling at least as awkward, if not more so, than he was right now.

After quickly throwing my clothes into the laundry basket and hanging up the coat and jacket, I sat down at my vanity table and just stared into the mirror. It was pretty amazing how my appearance had changed to match Ed's. Heck, it was kind of spooky in a way. My hair matched his exactly, I had his same golden eye color, and even my right arm and left leg had somehow vanished and been replaced by the auto-mail that I had been wearing. I'm guessing that those scrap pieces of metal that I had put together didn't just LOOK like auto-mail, but that they actually were.

Of all the ways my physical appearance had changed this night, I was most concerned with my hair at the moment. I couldn't just cover it up like the eyes or the auto-mail, so my parents would be bound to notice it. Heck, they might notice the eyes and the auto-mail soon too, but I didn't really want to think of that right at this moment. "Edward, Is there anything that you could do about my hair? My parents will be sure to notice that by morning." It was weird, I had finally decided to speak aloud then. I guess it just felt more natural to do so.

"Couldn't you just dye it back to its natural color?" replied Ed, also speaking aloud. That had been kind of weird to feel that. Having someone else move your lips is an odd experience, though I can't say that it's unpleasant...just...odd. Obviously, I had already experienced the sensation when I had been out trick or treating, but a few hours worth of it could hardly be enough time to get used to the experience.

I shook my head, barely remembering that the person I was talking to was in fact inside of me, but I disregarded that fact in favor of using the body language I was accustomed to using. "I'm not allowed to dye my hair. My mom's a beautician, and she says that hair dye damages hair." I sighed and dropped my gaze to my hands in my lap...one flesh, one auto-mail. I shook my head and closed my eyes to clear the sight from my vision. Would I never get used to this?

"So I suppose she can tell the difference between dyed and natural hair, even if dyed hair looks natural?" I nodded in response to Ed's question, not quite sure if I should give him any further information. It wasn't like further info would really help him any in this situation. He finally broke the silence, and spoke again. "Well, I once changed the color of my hair through a transmutation. I could try that here, but I'm not sure if I can use alchemy in this body."

Not sure if he could use alchemy in this BODY? I would think that that would be the least of his concerns right now. I'd think that not being sure if he could use alchemy on this side of the Gate would be more like it. He chuckled in response to my thoughts, and I glared at him in return...well, glared into the mirror, wondering what was so funny. "It's just that alchemy CAN be performed on this side of the Gate," said Edward, "It isn't very well developed here though, so one has to learn on their own how to do it. Further, there isn't any external energy source to utilize here, so one has to rely entirely on the energy from their own spirit. It can make one a bit tired initially, until their spiritual muscles get stronger."

That was interesting. I had never heard that perspective. If that was so, why hadn't anyone ever tried alchemy on this side of the Gate? Perhaps they had, but they were keeping closed-mouthed about it. I shrugged. It didn't really matter right now anyway. "So, Edward," I said, "Will it make me get really tired if you try to perform alchemy in my body?"

Edward shook my head, which felt kind of weird. Apparently he liked to use his body language too, even though we were both in the same body. "It shouldn't. I'll be the one performing the transmutation, so my spirit should be the only one used." He paused, as though listening to my thoughts, which I suspected he was, and then continued. "And before you ask, no, it's not going to hurt me or you in any way. The worst that's ever happened from my performing alchemy on this side of the Gate is a little tiredness. That is all."

I nodded. Well, he if was absolutely sure, I was willing to give it a try. I asked him what he wanted me to do. I figured that the least I could do was set things up for him, since I was the one that way most in tune with this body, so it was easier for me to do things in it than it was for him. Heck, he was going to potentially be making himself tired for my sake. The least I could do was help make things a little bit easier for him.

"Just get me a bowl of water," he said. Okay, that was simple enough. I happened to be one of those lucky kids that had my own private bathroom attached to my bedroom, so I wouldn't even have to risk going out into the hallway and getting caught with my still blond hair. I quickly fetched the requested water, and then asked Ed what he wanted me to do next. "Let your hair hang over the water, so that the tips are actually submersed in the water." Simple enough. I brushed my hair away from my back so that it was hanging over my shoulders into the bowl. I was about to ask Ed what next, but before I could do so, he smiled and said, "Thanks. I'll take over from here."

I felt a certain energy course through my body, that same warmth that I'd felt earlier that night, and I knew that Ed was once again taking over. As much as I accepted the feeling, it was still kind of hard to get used to. It was kind of intriguing, but a bit unnerving as well, seeing my body move, and myself not able to do anything about it. Perhaps it was simply the fact that Edward's spirit seemed to be stronger than mine, and could easily overrule mine if he wanted, I didn't know. I was glad that he didn't exploit that though.

"Okay, here goes nothing," he said. He clapped my hands together, and then placed them both on the basin. I waited to see what would happen, what an actual transmutation would feel like. I expected the first thing I experienced would be something along the lines of energy coursing through my body, but that was not the case, as it turned out. Instead, the first thing I picked up was a bunch of Ed's instantaneous thoughts and calculations, resulting in a final mental image of the perfect transmutation circle to use in this situation. So that was how he performed transmutations without a circle. I wondered if he was even aware of his own thought processes during this time?

Then the energy actually DID start coursing through my body, just like I'd expected initially. I looked down at the basin of water before me. It was a bit odd, because while there was indeed a lot of light emitting from my hands, it wasn't a bunch of flashy sparks like in the anime. That was weird to me. It seemed to look more...well...natural, in real life, though no less amazing.

In no time, the water had changed color, and the color had ascended through my hair. Yes, that had felt weird too. Was there anything in my life right now that WOULDN'T feel weird? Somehow, I kind of doubted it. Having a life with Edward sharing your body was pretty weird as it was. Ed told me to then go and take a look in the mirror, to see if I approved. I took one look in the mirror, and squealed with joy, catching myself in time to clap a hand over my mouth to keep myself from being heard.

"I take it that that's a yes?" said Ed, an obvious tone of amusement in his voice. What can I say? He possessed a fangirl, so he should get used to the whole idea of his being worshipped. Okay, maybe not worshipped exactly, but...well...close enough I guess. I couldn't talk out of sheer excitement of all that had happened, so I just nodded my response. He chuckled, and then said, "I'm glad. Just understand that this isn't real dye, so it'll wash out in a few days. It's merely a transmutation of water."

I confirmed to him that I understood, and then disposed of the water. I wondered how the heck he had managed to make brown hair dye out of hydrogen and oxygen though. Maybe the impurities inherent in the tap water had played a part in that. Yeah, that was probably how he had done that, since I now remembered some of the odd impressions I had gotten from him just before he had performed the transmutation.

I put the empty bowl back in its place, and walked back into the main bedroom. I quickly flicked off the light, and then made my way over to my bed. Any communication that I carried on with Ed from now on would have to be telepathic, since talking out loud to him when the lights were out would likely make my parents suspicious. My parents were weird ones for sure, not caring a bit if I talked to myself otherwise. They just didn't want me to do so when I was supposed to be trying to sleep. They were weird ones, alright, but I was grateful for them.

I lay down in my bed and pulled the covers up over me. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, just meditating over nothing in particular. Then, my head drifted onto its side, so I turned my gaze to looking out the window. (Ed,) I thought, (How are you doing? Are you okay after doing that transmutation and all?)

I could feel Edward smile inside of me. It was a rather nice feeling, since I always felt so warm and comfortable whenever he did that. (You're so considerate, thank you. Yes, I'm fine. I'm a little bit tired, but that's to be expected when you haven't performed a single transmutation in decades. For not having done it in so long, I'm actually doing better than I expected.)

(So you're sure that you're okay?) I asked Ed, just trying to make sure. I knew that Ed had the tendency to play down his own weaknesses to try and keep others from worrying, so I wanted to double check and make sure that he really was okay. He once again smiled inside of me and reaffirmed that he was fine, and that a good night's sleep would be all it took to restore his energy. Satisfied, I finally relaxed my tense muscles and allowed my head to sink into my pillow.

Well, the hair problem had been solved, but the eyes were still an issue. I wasn't quite sure how I'd deal with that, since my parents would be bound to notice the change in my eye color sooner or later. I could continue wearing sunglasses for awhile, but that would cause a bit of suspicion after just a few days. I supposed it could help me buy a little time though, while me and Ed tried to find a solution to the problem.

I closed my eyes and said good night to Ed, and he said good night back. Neither one of us could sleep quite yet due to our racing thoughts from the events of the past few hours, though he seemed to be slipping into unconsciousness faster than I was. Apparently, he had been a bit more tired than he had really cared to admit, but hopefully he was telling the truth in that he'd be alright in the morning.

It was kind of weird, just in the few hours that Ed had entered my life like this, I had already figured a few things out. His soul was stronger than mine, and had the power to take complete control of my body, though he obviously didn't exploit that. That just gave me more respect of him as a person than I had held for him previously. True, he had entered my body without my consent, but I could understand why he had done that, considering that he was absolutely desperate to move on, and couldn't have otherwise. I wondered though, would he be able to find a way to move on soon, or would I be stuck with him until I died? I didn't mind sharing my body with Edward Elric for the rest of my life, but I couldn't help but wonder if that was what was going to happen or not.

After a while, I quit being able to pick up any of Ed's thoughts, indicating that he had already slipped into the realm of sleep, so, having nothing else to do, I began to relax and let myself drift into unconsciousness as well. A short while later, I finally fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning to my mom shaking me awake. It took me some time to reconnect with reality, since I had apparently just been dreaming about something or other, but couldn't remember what it was about. I scanned over my memories for several minutes, trying to make the connection, and finally settled on one about being possessed by Edward Elric. That's right, that was what I had dreamt about. I shook my head. What a weird dream.

"Sleepyhead, wake up," my mom continued to prod at me, "You're going to be late for school if you don't get up right now." When she noticed my hesitance to get up, she grew concerned and asked me what the matter was. I opened my eyes to slits just big enough to see out of, and offered her a weak smile.

"It's nothing, mom. It was just a weird dream I had, that's all."

My mom breathed a sigh of relief that that was all it was, and once again started prodding me to get up. "It's 7:30. I let you sleep in a little today, but you'll have to hurry up or you'll be late for school." I acknowledged her statement and reaffirmed that I would be up shortly, so she got up and left the room, satisfied that she had accomplished her mission.

I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes. I was so tired, and I couldn't exactly tell why. Perhaps it was simply the fact that that dream had been so vivid, as overly vivid dreams tend to make one tired oftentimes. Yeah, that had to be it. I yawned and was about to stand up when I heard a voice in my head. (Thank goodness she didn't see your eyes.)

I jumped. Edward's voice? But wait, no, that was a dream! Edward's having possessed me had been a dream, hadn't it? It was too bizarre to have actually happened. I placed my hands over my ears, as if that would stop me from hearing the voice any further, and I hesitantly said, in a trembling voice, "…Edward?"

A moment of silence, and then yet another telepathic response. (I'm sorry…I didn't mean to startle you. Did you forget that I was in here?) I subconsciously nodded. In truth, I HAD forgotten about it. How could I not have? It all seemed too much to believe, and yet it had happened. Or had it? Could I just be going crazy and hearing voices in my head that weren't really there? This was too much too fast, and I was scared. As much as I tried to resist, a tear slipped out of my eye and rolled down my cheek.

I felt the foreign spirit sink down, as though slouching over in sadness. (I'm sorry,) he said, (I didn't realize this would be so hard for you.) I didn't know what to say to that. I could tell that he cared about how I felt, which helped a lot, but each time I tried to say I was fine, I cried even more. I honestly couldn't see how I was going to be able to adapt to all this. The stress from the sudden change was too high, even though this change was welcomed.

Somehow, I then felt Ed's arms move within me so that it almost felt like they were around me, like he was trying to hug my pain away. (I'll try to make this as easy as possible for you, okay?) I nodded, but wasn't able to say anything in response just yet. I brought my hands up and rubbed the tears out of my eyes. How could I think to cry when he was being so sweet? I half smiled at that thought. A lot of people didn't realize how sweet Ed really was, but that was mainly because they only ever saw the side of him that surfaced after someone had tried to tick him off. Apparently, when one tried to get along with him, this really sweet side of him surfaced, this really caring side.

My weak smile slowly turned into a wider one, and I finally was able to say, "It's okay, Ed…don't worry about it…I'm happy to have been able to help you." I paused for a moment, trying to find something else to say, and then said with a smirk, "I am your biggest fan, after all."

I heard Ed chuckle in response, though it was only audible to me, since he hadn't bothered to control my body to make a physical noise, and then he said, (Is that a good thing or a bad thing?) I rolled my eyes and shrugged, sending him the message that he would have to decide on that for himself, which just prompted him to rant on and on about how being trapped inside of a fangirl's body was just pure torture, and how I was the epitome of evil, and so on and so forth. I couldn't help but laugh at all his little rantings. They brightened my mood amidst the stupidity inherent in the words he was uttering, which I think was what the whole intent was. He just liked to see me happy.

I finally stood up and walked over to my closet to pick out some clothes for school. I didn't have a lot of time on my hands, since I'd slept in a bit late today, so I just grabbed a couple of the first things I laid my eyes on: a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. I threw them on my bed and was about to take off my nightgown when Edward spoke up again. (You should really cover up your auto-mail. That short-sleeved shirt won't do the job.)

I picked up the shirt and examined it. Yes, he certainly had a point. There would be no way to keep the auto-mail hidden in this shirt. I hung the blue t-shirt back in the closet and pulled out a white, long-sleeved t-shirt. Thank goodness it was October…no, wait…November, or it'd be kind of hot to wear a shirt like this. (That'll work,) Edward spoke up again, (but your hands will still be exposed. I guess you'll have to wear those gloves from last night.)

"This time isn't exactly like yours, you know," I said back to Ed. "People don't just wear gloves everywhere they go. They wouldn't let me get away with wearing gloves to school." All the same, I still realized that I needed to put the long-sleeved shirt on, regardless of whether I figured out how to cover up my hands or not. I threw that one onto the bed, took off my nightgown, and quickly slipped the new clothes on. Ed convinced me to give the gloves a try anyway, since there was really nothing that I could lose by doing so, and there was always a slight chance that I MIGHT be able to get away with it. I reluctantly agreed, and then slipped the gloves and the sunglasses on just before heading downstairs.

When I got downstairs, I found my mom in the process of making breakfast, though she wasn't quite finished yet. She had a glass of milk waiting for me on the table. Without thinking about it, I went and picked it up, took a sip, and promptly spit it back out. I wiped the residue off my mouth with the back of my hand as I continued to hack and cough from the awful taste that had contaminated my taste buds. I didn't recall ever having tasted something so terrible before.

"Mom, what's wrong with this milk? It tastes terrible!"

Mom turned from what she was doing at the stove and looked at me. I could see the confusion written all over her face, as I was sure that I had it written on mine as well. "I don't recall there being anything wrong with that milk. I just had some this morning." She reached out her hand towards me and asked me to hand her the glass of milk, which I did. She tipped it back and took a sip of it, and then shook her head. "No, there's nothing wrong with it, sweetheart. Is something the matter? You usually like milk."

Yeah, something was the matter alright, I had a milk hater in my body, but I couldn't exactly go and tell her that. Apparently I had inherited another one of Ed's traits, and it wasn't one of the traits I had wanted. I sighed. Oh well, it was just milk. One shouldn't cry over spilt milk, after all, like the old saying says. I turned to the refrigerator and began to scan for something more palatable. My eyes fell on a carton of orange juice, and I pulled it out. "I think I'll drink this instead, if that's okay." My mom nodded that it was, though I could see the concern on her face. I wished I could find a way to explain it to her without making her panic.

I sat down at the dining room table with my orange juice. My mother soon came in, carrying a bowlful of oatmeal, and set it down in front of me. I thanked her, and quickly dove into it, as I was abnormally hungry that morning. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I was using up a lot of energy just trying to readjust to this recent bizarre turn of events. I didn't know, but I didn't care at the moment, since all I wanted to do was eat my oatmeal.

My mom's gaze fell on the gloves I was wearing. She frowned, and cleared her throat to get my attention. I looked up at her, spoon still half hanging out of my mouth. "You're not going to wear those to school, are you?" my mom asked, motioning towards the gloves.

Oh great, this wasn't good. "Why not?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. One would be surprised how far the sweet, little, innocent girl act will go towards getting people to bend, though I didn't exactly do that intentionally. It just sort of happened…though from the look on my mom's face, I judged that it wasn't going to be that easy this time.

"Sweetheart, you can't go around pretending to be Edward Elric all the time. Take those off." I sighed. I really didn't know what to do. If I took off the gloves, she would see the auto-mail underneath, and then I'd really have some explaining to do. This was not something I wanted to deal with first thing in the morning. There had to be a way out, but I just couldn't think of anything at the moment.

Just then, I felt that warm sensation that I'd come to understand was the feeling of Edward taking over my body. For once, I actually welcomed losing control, since I was sure that he would handle the situation better than I could. "My hands are a little cold right now," he said to my mother, "And this dry weather isn't good for my hands. I'll take them off when I get to school. Is that alright?"

Boy, he had sure sounded polite back there. I'm guessing that he has a high respect of mothers, though I can't really say that I blamed him for that. In any case, she somehow bought all that, and permitted me to wear my gloves to school, but not before she once again asked me if anything was wrong. Ed was still in control at the time, so he looked up at her and said, "Never better…why?"

My mother smiled and said, "I'm just a mother." Without any warning, she leaned over and kissed my forehead. Ed backed away within my body in shock about having been caught off guard with that kiss, releasing control of the body to me once again. "Have a nice day, sweetheart." I stifled the suspicious grin that wanted to show itself. She had no idea who she had just kissed.

She then got up and left to another part of the house to perform whatever duties she had around the house prior to going to her salon to take care of a client, leaving me to finish my oatmeal. I was on my last bite when Ed suddenly thought, (I wish I could have had some warning about that kiss.)

I couldn't help myself, and I laughed out loud at his response. Fortunately, my mom had already stepped outside, so she hadn't heard me, but I clapped my hand across my mouth to stifle the giggles just to be safe rather than sorry. I shook my head while my shoulders continued to bounce from the stifled giggles, and I thought back my response of (You'll get used to it.) I wasn't sure that he was exactly thrilled about the fact that it was going to happen often enough that he would have to get used to it at all, but I knew he was big enough to be able to accept it. He had just never been raised in such a touch-feely family as I had. Maybe it would have been good for him if he had been. Maybe he wouldn't have felt so alone during his lifetime.

I finally finished my breakfast, grabbed my books, and ran out the door. I didn't have a lot of time to get to school, since I had gotten a late start, so I started jogging there in the hopes of getting there within reasonable time. Naturally, the time it takes to get from home to school and vice versa gives me a lot of time to think, so I once again started worrying about if I were to get caught with my auto-mail arm, or something. I wasn't worried about my eyes, since no one at school really paid that much attention other than my best friends, but the auto-mail was a different story.

Ed somehow heard my thoughts once again, and butted into this conversation I was having with myself. (Just…try to keep your right hand hidden as long as possible. You're left handed, aren't you?) Boy, he was observant. He must've noticed that I had been eating my oatmeal by holding the spoon in my left hand. Most people didn't actually pay that much attention to one's handedness. Heck, even I didn't most of the time.

(Yeah,) I replied, (How did you notice that? You must be really observant.)

He laughed. Apparently, he didn't quite agree with that statement about him being really observant…well, except when it came to anything alchemy-related. (No,) he said, (I'm no more observant than you. It's just that I am…was…left-handed myself, so I couldn't help but notice.) I was about to comment on how strong his right hand actually felt when he would possess me, since my right hand would suddenly become abnormally strong for me whenever he would take control. He beat me to it though, and said, (Well, my auto-mail DID give my right arm more strength than I otherwise would have had in it, but I still used my left hand for writing.)

That made sense, actually. I was surprised I had never thought about it like that. I was so used to living in the right-handed world that I just automatically assumed that all the characters I saw on the TV were right-handed, though on occasion I had been able to spot some ambidextrous ones. Edward was the first one I'd ever found that was actually left-handed like myself. I was surprised I hadn't noticed.

(We might be able to pull this off,) he said, interrupting my thoughts once again, (Just try to keep your right hand hidden, so that no one asks questions.)

(I'll try,) I said, I just knew that this was going to be a long day.

**_Thanks for reading this! Hope you enjoyed it! Leave me some reviews, and I'll update once again as soon as possible, heh, though it might take me forever to type again, if the chapters are going to be this long! hehe...oh well...as long as I'm continuing to get reviews, I'll be encouraged to continue working on it...so review! Hehe...seeya soon, I hope._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hey, everyone! I finally managed an update of this! Yeah! Three cheers for Melissa! (Cough) Okay, I'm getting silly, heh. Well, I hope that I managed to make this chapter more interesting than the original one. I know that none of the chapters in the original were bad, but slow parts did hit, so I hope that this is more interesting. I also made sure to pay attention to which symbols are removed by ffdotnet upon submission, so hopefully the math problem will make more sense this time, hehe. Anyway, hope you enjoy it._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own a rubber duck. Wait, what's the relevance of that? Um...I could call Ed a rubber duck, and then it would apply, right?_**

**_Ed: I'm not a rubber duck!_**

I finally arrived at school just as the bell rang. Out of breath, I opened the door to the school building and rushed inside, running through the hall as quickly as I could get away with without getting myself in trouble. Finally, I found my locker and I struggled to the darn thing opened. What was my combination again? Oh right, 5, 2, 5, 4. The lock finally popped, and I opened my locker. I quickly took off my gloves and my sunglasses, as I wouldn't need them here since no one ever paid attention to my eye color if they weren't close friends or family, and I grabbed my math book plus a few other books that I'd need. I stuck my auto-mail right hand into my pocket to avoid being too conspicuous and rushed to class.

The teacher was already in the class room grading papers when I came in. Great, that meant that he would mark me down as tardy. I sighed as I made my way over to my desk, plopped my books onto it, and sat down. There didn't seem to be any point in attempting to come in quietly, since that would just make it look like I thought the teacher was stupid enough not to notice me, which he wasn't.

My teacher looked up from what he was doing and noticed me sitting down at my desk. He gave me a light smile, which I hadn't quite expected, and then said, "A little late today, are we? Did we have too much fun last night and forget to get up this morning?" The other kids in my class giggled, as they had the tendency to do anytime the teacher made a spectacle of one of the students. Instead of giggling, I just blushed and nodded my head, trying to force a smile. The teacher returned my smile and clucked a bit in response, perhaps because of my naïve honesty, and said, "I understand, Miss Greene; I was young once myself. I'll let it slide this time; just don't make it a habit."

A few nervous laughs escaped me while I let my eyes fall to the floor. My cheeks were still burning from the embarrassment of being made the center of attention, but I finally managed to say, "Th-Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he said as though he didn't hear me, "Now get your math books out and turn to page 107."

I groaned inwardly. Math in and of itself was fine. If I had been going to a normal school, I wouldn't have minded half so much, but this was a private school that my parents had chosen to send me to. The strange thing about this school was that they had the crazy notion that sixth graders needed to know algebra. Heck, pre-algebra was even started in fourth grade, if not sooner.

I leaned over the book and made to tear my hair out as a bunch of ugly numbers stared back at me in a menacing way, just daring me to try and conquer them. The dizzy feeling that was my constant uninvited guest began to manifest itself again, and I took to rubbing my forehead to aleve the feeling somewhat.

Edward must have noticed my reaction, because he suddenly spoke up inside my mind. (Have you ever considered learning alchemy?)

Alchemy? Yeah, I would have loved to be able to learn such an art, but I hadn't a clue where to start. As soon as I though that, Edward was speaking again. (Alchemy requires advanced knowledge of mathematics, especially Geometry and Trigonometry, and both of those require a foundational knowledge of Algebra. Arithmetic by itself won't cut it.)

I sat up straight and stared into space. Yeah, he'd gotten me there, that was for sure, but I didn't want to give in so easily. Those numbers on my math page still weren't looking too friendly. I felt him sigh and roll his eyes inside of me, and then he went right back to speaking to me. (I can help you if you'd like; I'm good at math; but I'm not going to do your work for you.)

I nodded somewhat subconsciously and began chewing on my pencil, trying to make up my mind as to whether that was what I really wanted or not. Yes, I really wanted to learn alchemy, if it was even possible on this side of the Gate, but Algebra…bleck! Maybe I could handle it better if they'd give me smaller assignments, but of course they never did that.

After a moment, I realized that I was chewing on my pencil, and so I brought it back down to my paper where it belonged. I sighed. Sure, Edward, go ahead. I could really use your help. I could have sworn that I suddenly felt him get excited as he directed me to the first math problem on the page, which just so happened to be ab plus ba equals bc and b equals 3.

(Okay,) said Edward, taking on a teacherly tone of voice ((Is 'teacherly' even a word?)) (The first thing you need to do is write it out better so that it doesn't confuse you later. All those letters that are next to each other are actually multiplied.)

(So then, I should write it as a x b plus b x a equals b x c?)

(That depends. Are you still being taught to use the multiplication symbol to multiply with, or have you been introduced to parentheses yet?)

I acknowledged to him that we were indeed using parentheses now, so he directed me to rewrite the problem so that it had said parentheses around each and every letter. Well, it certainly looked like he wasn't about to do my work for me, though that was probably a good thing if I ever wanted to learn the material myself. I still say ugh, but picked up my pencil without further complain and rewrote the problem as follows:

(a)(b) plus (b)(a) equals (b)(c).

(Good,) said Edward as soon as I'd finished writing, (Now…do you remember what it said that 'b' represents?)

I had to look back at the original problem to remember, but the answer to his question wasn't hard to find. (b equals 3), I said.

(Good, now rewrite the problem again, substituting all the b's for 3's.)

Without another word, I went and once again rewrote the problem, this time coming up with (a)(3) plus (3)(a) equals (3)(c). Now if I could just figure out a second number, the third number would be easy to find.

(Look at what you have left,) said Edward, (You have two a's and one c. It will take three times the amount of those two a's to get three times the amount of that one c…but that's kind of hard to keep track of. All of the groups have 3 in them, so just blot three out of your mind and tell me what you have left.)

(a plus a equals c,) I said, sighing a bit. I wasn't trying to be ungrateful for Edward's help…at least he was keeping my mind on track, but I couldn't help but be a little bored. I leaned by head onto my fist and continued with the problem.

(Right,) said Edward, (So how many a's does it take to get one c?)

(Two.)

(That would mean that 'c' is twice the amount of 'a', and also that it's an even number, since it can be divided by two.)

I waited without saying or doing anything for a moment, for I sensed that the key to solving this problem was just around the corner. Edward smiled, and then said, (You're almost there. Just pick a number and try it to see if it works. Remember, one you find 'a', you'll have 'c' as well.)

I thought on that for a moment and tried to do some preliminary calculations in my head to save myself some time. The number '2' seemed like a decent thing to try, so I rewrote the problem once more, trying to remember everything that Edward had coached me on:

(2)(3) plus (3)(2) equals (3)(4).

Well, it certainly looked plausible, like it was actually possible to solve. In the back of my mind, it seemed right, but the only way to know for sure was to solve it. Here goes nothing.

Six…plus…six…equals…twelve! Of all things, it actually worked! (See? It's easy when you break it down step by step.) I was so excited that I couldn't help but agree with him. I would have even given him a great big hug had he not been in my own body. Actually, come to think of it, I would have hugged him regardless of whether he'd helped me with my math or not. I AM technically a fangirl, after all. All the same, I couldn't stop thanking him for his help.

He smiled in response and then said, (It's no problem. It's the least I can do for the person that lets me share their body without a fuss.) Heh, so he thinks that that's such a big sacrifice on my part? See previous fangirl statement, as it applies here too.

Just a few minutes before math period ended, I finished my assignment and handed it in at the teacher's desk, drawing a very shocked look from him. I smiled mischievously, knowing that this was the first time I had ever gotten my math assignment done during math period, and he knew it too. He was apparently quite curious about how well I could have possible done since I had gone faster than I normally would have, because he pushed aside the stack of papers that he was grading and graded mine immediately. I nervously shifted my weight from one foot to the other and back again as I watched him. He had his eyebrows pinched together and a concerned look on his face. I knew that he was wondering if I'd cheated somehow, since there were extra copies of the teacher's manuals on the other side of the room so that we could double check our work on the assignments that allowed it.

The teacher continued going down the problems one by one, not marking any with his red pen, until he came to one problem of mine and hovered his pen over it, looking back and forth between my paper and the book. I gripped the edge of the desk and leaned forward. Was one of my problems wrong? How could that be, since Edward had been tutoring me?

Finally, the teacher sat back and laughed. When he had calmed down, he turned to look at me, then sat up straight and laced his fingers. "Miss Greene, as I'm sure you know, you getting your math assignment does this quickly is most unexpected, and I had to make sure that you hadn't…well…copied your answers out of the manual, even though I doubted you'd do that."

The man pulled his hands apart, sat back, and crossed his legs. "But you see," he said as he picked up my math paper, "You have an answer that is inconsistent with the grade book. Your answer's right, the grade book's wrong!" He leaned forward and once again laced his fingers together. "So tell me, how did you manage that?"

My first reaction was to be nervous, but I quickly realized that he wasn't assuming I had cheated, but was merely curious as to my method. I relaxed and smiled a bit. "I…have a friend…he's really good at math…he broke it down for me, and well…" I scratched the back of my head, hoping I didn't sound too nervous. Everything I had said was the truth, but I didn't want to tell too much. After all, who would believe me if I were to say that the ghost of Edward Elric inhabited my body?

The teacher leaned forward over his desk and finally smiled for me, helping to ease the last of my tension away. "Well, your friend has just made my job a lot easier. Tell him 'thank you' for me next time you see him."

"He'll get the message."

The teacher looked at his watch. "There's still ten minutes to math period. If you have nothing else to do, you're welcome to go outside and take a break." Amazingly enough, I didn't have anything else to do, so I thanked my teacher and then headed outside for a short break. That was one perk about going to a private school, I guessed. You still got break, recess, whatever you chose to call it, no matter how old you were. That was something I was going to miss when I went to public school the next year.

Except that I had a constant companion to talk to, the day passed by pretty normally. Well, science didn't count. Our teacher had asked us how one could pick up an ice cube with a piece of string without tying a knot in it. One thing I learned very quickly about Edward was that you don't get him started on chemistry, not even the simple stuff. He took over, ran up to the teacher's desk, and grabbed the string and the ice cube, all the while I was sure that everyone was sending funny looks my way…our way.

He placed the string on the ice cube and then sprinkled a little salt on it, much to the teacher's amazement, wondering how I could have known that. After a moment, Edward carefully pulled the string up, and the ice cube came with it. Before the teacher could even ask if I knew how that worked, Edward was already explaining that the salt caused the temperature of the ice to increase, thereby melting it, but since only a small amount was melted, it would freeze again due to the influence of its immediate environment, i.e. the rest of the ice cube that was still frozen. The string would then be frozen to the surface of the ice cube, allowing one to pick it up without tying the string.

The teacher didn't say anything for a few moments after the conclusion of Edward's speech, as though completely astonished that I could possibly know all that. I was surprised too…but then, this WAS Edward we were talking about. Within moments, the teacher started clapping, soon followed by the rest of the class. Edward took this opportunity to bow a few times. What a dork.

Finally, the period when I would have to go to P.E. came. I had been dreading this all day, because there was no way I'd be able to hide my auto-mail in P.E., especially not with THAT teacher. One the way there I grabbed my gloves out of my locker on the slim chance that I could get away with in, though I knew that it was most likely hopeless.

As soon as I set foot in the gymnasium, my gym teacher confronted me. A chill ran down my spine. I had never liked her much. She tended to pick on me for being a slow runner, but it wasn't really my fault. I was so badly coordinated that I tended to trip over my own feet, and I hadn't a clue what the cause was.

Needless to say, it wasn't long before she'd spotted my gloves and had demanded that I take them off. I tried using the same trick as Edward had that morning about my hands being cold, but I neither had Edward's tact, nor was I speaking to the right person for it to work. She had simply said that my hands would warm up soon enough and once again demanded that I take off my gloves. With great reluctance, I removed them. My auto-mail was now exposed.

"Oh, a remnant from your Halloween costume, I see," she said as she crossed her arms and placed her hand on her chin as if she was thinking. It almost looked like she was pretending to be amused, but anyone could tell that she really was not. She sent me a dirty look and told me to take that 'thing' off, because we were wasting time.

"Please, Teacher," I begged, "This isn't a glove, it's a prosthetic arm!" I can't just take it off!"

The teacher just threw her head back and laughed. Yeah, I guess that that statement did sound pretty ridiculous. A smooth talker, I am not.

"That's a new one," said the teacher, suddenly returning to seriousness. "Take it off now, or I'm calling your parents."

I cringed. I seriously didn't want to get them involved in this…so I guessed that the only thing I could do to avoid getting them involved was to pull off the auto-mail and show her…but, come to think of it, I didn't even know how that was done.

(That's okay, I can do it,) said Edward, trying to be supportive through all of this. I guessed that he felt a bit guilty for getting me involved, but I didn't hold anything against him. I actually enjoyed his company so much that I was willing to deal with auto-mail in order to have him around.

(Is it going to hurt?) I asked.

(Extremely much, once I put it back on.)

I asked Ed to keep control of me through that whole ordeal, since I was sure that I'd just end up screaming like a girl. Well, I AM a girl, but that was beside the point. I felt Edward's power increase inside me until I had once again lost control of my body. He slid the sleeve back on my right arm so that the auto-mail was now completely exposed, and flipped a few levers. He then tugged on the arm, and to my surprise, it cam out easier than I would have expected. Edward then turned to face the aghast faces in the room that were staring at the spectacle before them. He'd gotten his message across.

Finally, he turned back to the teacher and said in a somewhat conceited tone of voice, "May I please put my arm back on now?" The teacher didn't know what to say in regards to what she was seeing, so she just nodded, jaw fully dropped and everything. I was surprised that she was managing not to drool.

(Here we go,) he said, (Brace yourself.)

Ed put the auto-mail arm back into the socket on my shoulder and paused for a second before pushing it all the way in. I remembered from the show that once all the nerves connected, that there would be extraordinary pain for a time. I wasn't looking forward to experiencing that. All the same, Ed took a deep breath and shoved the arm all the way in. Almost instantly, pain seemed to shoot through my whole body, originating from my shoulder of course, and then going up to my head and down to my feet. Who would have known that our bodies were connected that way? This was hardly the time for making observations though, as the pain was worse than anything I'd ever felt.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't move even that much. Edward was doing a good job of keeping control of me. The only screams anyone heard were his, and he was merely screaming through his teeth with his jaw clenched. I couldn't believe that he was that tough in the face of this kind of pain. I would have been bawling if I could have.

No one could tell how much he was really suffering, and he probably would have been able to keep up that illusion until the pain had passed if my body hadn't been weaker than his spirit. Everyone looked on for several moments, watching us and listening to the muffled screams…and then, we fainted.

**_Hope you enjoyed that. Leave me some reviews and let me know what you think, and also let me know if you think that Ed's really a rubber duck or not. I think he is, he thinks he's not. Heh...um...okay, now I'm getting random, and I still need to go type up the update for "The Call of Atlantis", so I guess I'd better quit wasting time calling Ed a rubber duck...to be honest, I don't even know where that came from in the first place. Hehe...anyway, hope to see you around again soon._**


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